A note on shifting identities in the Ferghana Valley

This paper examines issues of conflict between the province of Khojand, in the fertile Ferghana valley, and the rest of Tadzhikistan. It traces the history of the Khojand province, discussing its multi-layered concept of identity. The paper considers language based identity in the republic of Tadzhikistan, and concludes that shifting identities in the Ferghana valley has left many torn and confused between competing allegiances, amidst the present Tadzhik civil war.